Two kamsarmaxes acquired by CSL Group from Scorpio Bulkers in March for $48m have been trading as conventional bulkers ahead of their planned conversion to self-unloading units.
“This is a mix of expansion and fleet renewal for our Americas fleet,” said chief executive Louis Martel, referring to a partnership with compatriot owner Algoma Central on a pool of self-unloaders that is run from Middleton, Massachusetts, near Boston.
“When you need a vessel, you have the choice to go and build a brand new one or, depending on prices in the secondhand market, buying an existing kamsarmax and fitting the loading system into the ship.
“Sometimes it’s more economical to go with the secondhand vessel than the newbuilding.”
Trillium vessels
Martel previously oversaw the design phase of 11 Trillium Class newbuildings that were delivered to CSL several years ago in a major fleet renewal.
CSL weighed building Trillium vessels today and decided the Scorpio swoop represented the more economical option, he said.
The two Scorpio vessels — then known as the 82,000-dwt SBI Electra and SBI Flamenco (both built 2015) — have been trading as standard bulkers while engineering plans are being drawn up by Cosco Shipyard's conversion facility in China.
It is typical for a conversion to take about 18 months to complete after a vessel has been acquired, but the ships will be in the yard for only about half that period, Martel said.
The pair are bound for the CSL Americas fleet, a pool in which CSL owns 10 self-unloaders and Algoma eight. Each company does its own technical management, but CSL commercially manages the pool vessels.
'Size matters'
“In shipping, size matters so we are able to optimise scheduling efficiency for our customers with less ballasting through this cooperative effort,” Martel said.
The conversion option is not available for the self-unloaders CSL operates in the St Lawrence Seaway-Great Lakes trade, Martel explained.
“For the Great Lakes, you can’t find a ship that’s suitable for conversion,” he said. “The lakers have only 50% of the scantling of an oceangoing ship. For a laker, we have to do a newbuilding.”
